Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (2012)

lol is "Fertilizer" a joke

i def prefer his falsetto to his normal singing voice

i'm not sure the songs are that interesting

i've never seen an album so unanimously rhapsodised about and i'm just confused cuz it's not like i hate it, i just don't think it's interesting at all

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=5699

but then this year is a new low in the amount of hyped music i fuck with tbh

On "Sierra Leone"... I am really digging this groove, it's like an aural cardigan

"Sweet Life"... so far the actual songs on here seem to be designed as throwback comfort food

Then it gets a running shove, past ludicrous and into sheer camp, when you realize it’s the same plot as Disney’s Aida.

aaaaaaaaaaaahhhahahahahahaha omg yes!

xp it would help if the voice was throwback comfort food as well - like that's pretty much what the last two r kelly albums have been but kellz' voice elevates them beyond it at their best, and at their most rote at least ups the comfort levels significantly

"Not Just Money" why are the interludes given names like they are important things you'll want to go back to and play in isolation ("ooh 'Not My Money' is my JAM, don't front!")

"Super Rich Kids" I would rather listen to "Benny and the Jets"

xp: that may be but honestly, fuck R Kelly

that ignorant-ass molesting asshole is getting zero percent of my time/money if I can help it

"Lost" is kinda nice, works as a good follow-on to "Pyramids"

that ignorant-ass molesting asshole is getting zero percent of my time/money if I can help it

― I see you, Pineapple Teef (DJP), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 10:52 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

misplaced hyphen joke

ha

'Bad Religion' is great. Up there with 'Novacane','Songs For Women' 'Swim Good' from the first record.

that high huh

fuck R Kelly

you sure?

Yeah I get it Lex you don't rate him.

"Pilot Jones" I don't understand why everyone is leaping directly to Marvin/Stevie comparisons when Maxwell is sitting there forlornly looking at us from the 90s wondering why everyone has forgotten he existed

like, if there's anyone out there more obviously influenced by the nu-soul posse, let me know; I've been kind of out of touch with this shit

In fairness Maxwell's last album got a lot of ILM love and (I think) sold a load of records as well. Doubt he'll be too worried about a lack of hipster blog buzz.

maxwell's last album got a ton of love iirc? and i'm very hyped for the second part of the trilogy, if not a little IMPATIENT by now

but otm it didn't get nearly as much ubiquitous coverage as this

Yeah I've been thinking Maxwell the whole damn time as well. And where IS that second album...

idk if the frank ocean love is "just" hipsterblogbuzz, or at least it seems hipsterblogbuzz is a thing actually guiding the mainstream industry a lot more, so ocean is pretty much a bigger deal than maxwell at this point, sadly

Maxwell's 2009 was a big hit, esp on the R&B chart.

"Crack Rock" I dig the snares and ride cymbals on this beat

xp: I think you guys are completely misreading what I'm saying, which is that I think Frank has more in common with Maxwell/D'Angelo than Marvin/Stevie, and it's weird that everyone is leapfrogging over what seem to me to be really blatant influences for ones that are at least a layer removed (well not that weird seeing as everyone seems determined to make this The Classic Album Of 2012, but it would still be possible to do that without pretending that this album is "Let's Get It On Pt 2")

Ah okay that makes sense.

"Pyramids" okay I see why ppl are pointing to this as the standout (faster tempo, buzzy synths) but to me this is basically breaking a mood that I was enjoying, at least until that bass line comes in at which point I stop caring and start agreeing, this is great

Marvin and Stevie are the go-to references for R&B, for better or worse. It would help if Frank Beverly got his due.

I think Frank has more in common with Maxwell/D'Angelo

apart from one really really important thing ie the VOICE

new Maxwell album and single are apparently coming soon, but he just canceled a bunch of tourdates due to "vocal swelling and hemorrhaging," which is v worrying

lex i'm not really into this frank ocean stuff either but honestly whining over and over that people don't share your exact taste is a terrible look, please chill the fuck out

gee lex, do you have an opinion on how Frank Ocean sings, I'm not really getting a clear sense of where you stand on that

i've never seen an album so unanimously rhapsodised about

this album was released today...

lol is "Fertilizer" a joke

Part of why I made the Prince-in-his-prime comparison: Starfish + Coffee into Dorothy Parker aka is this guy for real.

"Lost" this is great, too; dude has a knack for settling into a groove that conveys ease regardless of the song's subject matter

also re: his singing, it's interesting to me that he's basically using this blank, somewhat fragile instrument that resonate a good third to a fifth below where his songs are set; obv as a dude with a lower voice I am going to be psyched that someone is out there putting out things I could reasonably sing but he's got a bunch of different colors in his timbre between his registers and it's actually pretty canny and smart of him to spread out parts across his vocal range the way he does, since trying to do vocal gymnastics all through his range would be super disjointed

"White (feat John Mayer)" despite this being a pretty instrumental, I feel honor bound to hate it because of John Mayer

"Monks" more hot snares/cymbals

"Bad Religion" okay I am going to overrate this song because the first few bars remind me of "Porpoise Song" but bear with me; this is the most instantly appealing song on the album in terms of how it sounds since "Thinkin Bout You", even if I'm not as convinced by his falsetto on it

at some point I should go back and actually listen to what he's saying, I guess?

"Pink Matter" ha okay this was not the song start focusing on the words, huh

I like the idea of the chanted exclamations in the background but I don't think I can recover from how stupid I thought the first two lines were to give this song a fair shake

dan: does the fact that he's 24 count for anything? like, his voice could/will improve right? i'm just thinking about what (bear with me) will oldham sounded like in his 20s (terrible) and what he sounds like now. also assume that frank o has not had extensive voice training.

that's not that young

ha yeah we're not talking about justin bieber's learning curve or something

There have been R&B singers, even critically acclaimed ones, with less than amazing voices and I don't see why that should stand in Frank Ocean's way if the songs stand up, the eyeroll was for the Marvin comparisons really.

anyone know anything about the James Ho that has a credit on nearly every song on this? brainwasher?

his discogs page indicates he's an industry dude but i've never heard the name

"Forrest Gump" I really want to hate this song but the beat is great; I learned my lesson from "Pink Matter" and am studiously ignoring what he's saying

does the fact that he's 24 count for anything? like, his voice could/will improve right? i'm just thinking about what (bear with me) will oldham sounded like in his 20s (terrible) and what he sounds like now. also assume that frank o has not had extensive voice training.

It's hard to say, really; certainly his voice will change as he gets older but what direction it will go is totally in the air. Also, he's unlikely to do a Madonna and get vocal training that completely changes the way he sounds, given that he's basically building his career off of the nasally rasp that is currently in vogue. If anything, I would expect is voice to open up some over the next few years with a little bit of the edge in the midrange coming off, possibly at the expense of some of the flexibility. He also may get better at the leaps into his passagio that sometimes makes him a little flat on interjected notes that leap up a third or fourth above where the bulk of the melody lies. I expect from the way he's singing and phrasing that he has had some amount of vocal training; whether it was formalized voice lessons or tips picked up singing with some type of group/choir, I don't know.

(men's voices often do go through a shift around the mid-20s; I know for me I suddenly got a good bit louder and more natural vibrato started manifesting in my vocal production)

Haven't had a chance to listen to the rest of the album yet -- had to be on desk a half hour back and it's been busy as hell since -- but "Bad Religion" does sound very lovely, and that's about where I left off. The album seems very backloaded rather than frontloaded.

I'm with you two so far. The two leaked tracks had already made me wonder whether I overrated last year's release.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 7:36 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can you elaborate on this? I have absolutely no idea how leaked tracks for one album could make you question how you rated a different album...

i think this album is pretty tremendous.

ain't felt this way on a first listen since take care *winks*

I didn't like the singing, content, or structures of "Pyramids" or "Thinking About You," which made me return to the mixtape to see if I'd overrate it. It's a natural reaction for me. I still think it's a good record.